Have you been working more than 50 hours a week over 5 or 6 days without taking a meaningful break? Do you know that you could be putting yourself in real danger with the excessive workload in trying to run your dentistry practice? Are you unsure about what you need to do to break this toxic cycle of nonstop work? In this blog we talk about setting priorities, managing and assigning time in your life so that you can be a happier and more successful practice owner. The one thing that most health professionals are unable to deal with is time management. This perhaps is the reason why their families and friends are always complaining about how they never see them. As a dentist you too are probably going through the same thing. But it is time to re-evaluate your time and your work.
Set Your Priorities
The first most important thing that you need to do is create a list of what is important to you and what changes you want to see in your life. There is absolutely nothing more important than your good health, a sound and relaxed mind, as well as time to care for your loved ones. If you are always busy with work, then you will not be able to focus on the things that truly matter. How can you create priorities? Sit down and make a list. Note down all the things that matter and how you can pay them more of your attention. Then ensure that you also note down the time that you plan on investing on all the things that matter to your own wellbeing. Make a diary if you can of what needs to be done and how you will get it done in the given time only, without overburdening yourself.
Allow Time for Admin or Team Emergencies
This is the second most important thing that you will need to do so that you can restore order in your life. Don’t schedule all of your day. Make sure you have gaps and time to deal with any admin, equipment or team emergencies that may arise. Maybe block an hour from your work day to manage any difficult issues that crop up. It could be a complaint from a patient, a team members issue or seeing a sales rep. Or just having some quiet thinking time. This way, when something crops up unexpectedly you will know you have time to deal with it the same day. This means you will be able to deal with your patients better, giving them your whole undivided attention and not be thinking about the issue and how you are going to find time to deal with it.
Putting the Ego Aside
There is no denying the fact that people who work in medical field are there because they want to help other people, change lives and make better use of their talents for the greater good of humanity. But, these same people also have this pride in what they do, an ego they want to satisfy by working harder and longer than all others around them. They feel they have to prove their benefit to not just others but to themselves as well. What happens is that by working too much, they destroy their own health, be it physical, mental or emotional. They get so engrossed in their profession that all other areas of their lives suffer significantly. This is the reason why you need to taper the ego down.
Dividing Tasks
Yes you may be good, but you can’t possibly be the best at everything and love every aspect of your dentistry practice. This is something that you should realise quickly because it will help you in defining the tasks that you can do best and delegating the rest to others. For example, you may be an excellent dentist, but that does not mean you enjoy handling the bookkeeping too, but you have been doing it because you feel you should handle your own finances. Instead of overburdening yourself with the extra responsibility, you can hire someone to handle the book keeping for you. This way, you can spend the time better in taking in some more patients, while your finances are expertly dealt with without the added stress. Learn to avoid doing things that don’t benefit you and let professionals who are better at it to do them for you.
Becoming Exclusive with Lesser Clients but Better Rates
Right now you may think that dropping some clients and increasing charges may be the most absurd way to go about it, but trust me, it will work better for you. How? Try and understand the psyche of the people who come to you for their dental services. Say you have three dentists on the same block. Who would a patient want to go to? The ones whose clinics are overcrowded or the ones that are more comfortable, slightly more expensive, yet more personal too? Of course, the latter.
People automatically assume that more expensive almost always means better treatment or higher quality services. And this is what you too can cash in on. You don’t have to go up by thousands of dollars, but a simple 10% increase will do wonders for you. These few tips will not only free up your time, reduce your work load, and lower your stress, they will also allow your patients to see that you give them your full attention and quality time.
P.S. Whenever you’re ready …. here are 4 ways I can help you grow your dental practice:
- Grab a free chapter from my book “Retention – How to Plug the #1 Profit Leak in Your Dental Practice”
The book is the definitive guide to patient retention and how to use internal marketing to grow your practice – Click Here
2. Join the Savvy Dentist community and connect with dentists who are scaling their practice too
It’s our Facebook group where clever dentists learn to become commercially smart so that they have more patients, more profit and less stress. – Click Here
3. Attend a Practice Max Intensive live event
Our 2 day immersive events provide access to the latest entrepreneurial thinking and actionable strategies to drive your practice forward. You’ll leave with a game plan to take your results to the next level. If you’d like to join us, just send me a message with the word “Event and I’ll get you all the details! – Click here
4. Work with me and my team privately
If you’d like to work directly with me and my team to take your profit from 6 figures to 7 figures …. just send me a message with the word “Private”… tell me a little about your practice and what you would like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details! – Click here
